The world's first known night-flowering orchid has been discovered on New Britain island, near Papua New Guinea, experts from Kew Gardens said.

The species, Bulbophyllum nocturnum, is the first known example of an orchid which has flowers that consistently open after dark and close in the morning.

Flowers that open only at night are seen in a relatively small number of plant species, such as the queen of the night cactus, the midnight horror tree and night blooming jasmine, but have never been documented in the 25,000 species of orchids.